I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the emotional toll recent events are having on our country and offer my sincere hope that we will emerge from this time with greater resilience and communal understanding.  We are fortunate to live in a true democracy.  In the United States, we enjoy certain freedoms within that democracy, and as children we are explicitly taught that the First Amendment to our Constitution protects the freedom of speech.  Today, I am reminded that to realize the intended benefit of our freedoms, there are also certain obligations required of us: the obligation to listen and the obligation to show respect.  As citizens of this nation, we should fulfill our obligation to hear all views and also to respect the property and service of others.  At the CFTC, we are a body of vastly different views and we receive input from each other and varied stakeholders.  But to fulfill our obligation to preserve our democratic system, we have to listen to and respect one another.  I feel like we do a lot of that well here at the CFTC, but this is a time to recommit across all aspects of our daily lives to these obligations.  I am today reminded that we are stronger as an agency – as a country – when we not only listen but hear each other.  And it is easier to hear one another through respectful dialogue.  We all must dedicate ourselves to being part of the solution – racism, violence, and disrespect are at odds with a society obligated to preserve democracy.